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Flat Foots
The descendants of officers of the San Antonio Police Department and members of the Texas Rangers living in the Northwestern section of San An. They exist as a tribe of vigilantes, living in their homeland, trying to maintain peace and order and keep the marauding Mexican Militia. History Initial Chaos and Violence In the months before the outbreak of the Great War, San Antonio, like many American cities, was slowly slipping into anarchy as the growing number of Anti-Government/War protestors became more vocal and more violent, causing the Mayor of San Antonio to call on the Governor in support. With a large chunk of Texas' National Guard tied down along the border or fighting in China the Governor instead ordered the State Highway Patrol along with Texas Department of Saftey (Texas Rangers) to send reinforcements to the beleaguered officers already battling rioters within the city. As the violence increased so did the number of officers deployed to the city and soon several hundred officers were patrolling the streets of San Antonio. Yet on October 23, 2077, when the bombs dropped the city was tossed even deeper into chaos, as suddenly the whole city turned into a violent inferno. The streets suddenly became awash in violence as the now armed rioters fought back against the police, the city's Police Commissioner unable to see the city he had worked so hard to control fall into anarchy, ordered the officers to enforce a new strict set of directives aimed at keeping the city under his control. For weeks the police and rioters fought a sort of urban war as the Commissioner waited for the arrival of reinforcements from the rest of the State, a hope that was never to come true. As the weeks turned into months, the number of officers who deserted grew, the casualties were at critical rates and above all, his men were losing hope in their commander. Eight months after the fall of the bombs, rebels attacked the Commissioner's command post and nearly wipe out the garrison, killing the commissioner in the crossfire. With the news of the Commissioner's death, the remaining officers who were still loyal fell back to San Antonio's Northwestern districts, there they regrouped and were able to gain a reasonable grip on the city. There, with their gathered families they prepared to elect their new leader, and enter into a new conflict. Jurisdiction Conflict of 2098 and Unification The coming conflict originated when the officers, having taken over an old nearby police station, sat down to vote for a new Commissioner. The vote promptly came out to a split vote between three separate candidates. George Harrison from the Bexar County Sheriff's Department, Alan Halleck of the City Police, and Jordan Strong of the Texas Rangers. All three groups thought they should have the seat of power, and while they were all on the same side, they were deeply divided on how they should go about protecting themselves and their families (securing San Antonio was out of the question). In the end, the argument escalated until the three sides walked from the meeting, vowing to get their way. In the ensuing months the tense condition in their little district, turned violent as the sides began to splinter even further and fight one another. Some officers felt their side was wrong, others felt that they should be more concerned about getting back control of San Antonio and not just hold their little slice of the city. These factions broke up and fighting ensued, lasting several throughout 2098 the end result was the City Police forces coming out on top. The various other factions were either destroyed or killed off by their own infighting or the wasteland itself. The survivors rallied around Alan Halleck, who determined not to let them break up or die off began to work out the terms for peace to determine their future. This agreement came a month later in early 2099, when the various officers agreed to band together into a single faction, to hold and protect their sector of San Antonio and to ensure their own survival and the prosper off their group well into the future. These broad terms were to the officers, the key to unity but the future was far more turbulent than they could've possibly imagined. The Thunderfoot The first major challenge to the Flat Foots came in the year of 2198 in the form of the Thunderfoots, a tribe descended from the various Native American tribes that inhabited the American Southwest. The tribe was a mix of tribals descended from the Apache, Comanche, Caddo and Tonkawa tribes that inhabited Texas in the pre-war days, living on largely underdeveloped reservations. From these reservations, the survivors of the various tribes drifted together and after setting aside their tribal differences they united, forming communities around the old reservations. However, these once peaceful tribals had been compelled into violence by a charismatic Comanchero named Foster Dole. The tribe then began to strike out, attacking towns, raiding caravans, burning bridges and any other sign of the "Pale Face". It was in the year of 2198 when they found the Flat Foots. At first, the two tribes had little contact when the tribes did interact it usually ended violently with both sides suffering losses. As time went on the presence of Thunderfoot warriors and scouts on the frontier of the Flat Foots' territory became more and more frequent, as did clashes between the two tribes, which eventually escalated into full on warfare. It started with some isolated skirmishes at the edges of the Flat Foots' territory but quickly Thunderfoot scouts had begun to infiltrate deep into Flat Foot turf, laying ambushes, attacking farms and causing havoc inside of the Flat Foots' homeland. The Flat Foots responded by sending groups of warriors out to attack Thunderfoot villages, poach on their hunting lands and to lay ambushes for Thunderfoot tribals. It was in these instances that the Flat Foots had the advantage, while the Thunderfoots favored repeaters, revolvers, bows and spears the Flat Foots armed with assault rifles and their pre-war riot armor quickly made a mess of the more primitive Thunderfoot braves. It was through this advantage that the Flat Foots began to muscle their way through the Thunderfoots' numerical superiority and slowly began to turn the war in their favor. However after several months of fighting the Thunderfoot chieftains met with the war chiefs of another warband and asked for their assistance against the tough group of tribals they were going up against. The war chiefs agreed and thus the Flat Foots now had to contend with a second warband of tribals, with this warband having a keen liking for explosives and heavy weapons. The warband soon had its advanced scouts smelling around the Flat Foot frontier within a few weeks and when a few braves managed to slew a group of these tribals they were startled to find that the warriors they had cut down had different war paint from those Thunderfoot warriors they had been fighting. Under the orders of their new Comyison'r Jose Romero, scouts fanned out into the countryside to find their new foe's origin, they discovered their encampment 34 miles from the Flat Foots' territory. They saw the Thunderfoot braves of this new warband, servicing their weapons; grenade machine guns, missile launchers and miniguns all being oiled and prepared for use. The shocked scouts returned to Flat Foot lands and reported their findings, Jose, in turn, decided he had to strike out and severely wound if not destroy this new warband before they could bring their arms to bear on his tribe. Thus he struck out with a party of fourteen picked warriors, all chosen for their marksmanship skills, ability to track targets and most of all their ability to make their presence unknown to an enemy. They arrived at the Thunderfoot encampment several days later and began to survey the encampment. After looking it over thoroughly, they decided to wait until the night before they struck. But prior to that, several braves snuck through the grasses surrounding the camp and set mines, and other traps to catch those braves that tried to flee into the grasses. Then in pairs, they surrounded the camp and donned their armor. At 11 pm the attack commenced with the warriors laying down heavy and accurate fire down on the Thunderfoot camp, killing many of the Thunderfoot warriors and causing chaos in the camp. The chaos turned the whole camp into a confused mess as the Flat Foots cut down anyone unlucky enough to be caught out in the middle, fires started as buckets of pitch, animal fat and bundles of dried wheat were kicked into the billowing fires and touching off the tents. The flames quickly spread into the dry grass, causing the Flat Foots to fall back, but the damage was done. With the flames setting off their buried explosives, smoke choking the camp, the screams of the wounded and dying filling the air the surviving Thunderfoot tribals wholeheartedly believed they were being attacked by some evil spirits of their past victims. Staying only to pick off the lucky tribal who escaped the inferno the Flat Foots watched as the Thunderfoot camp burned, and its inhabitants with it. That next morning they re-entered the camp and retrieved the only operating minigun they could find and a single grenade machinegun, they kept these two weapons as a trophy of their victory. They became mementos of the tribe's victory over the Thunderfoots. The Thunderfoots having seen what had happened to their compatriots at the hands of the Flat Foots sent the tribe two slain Big Horners as a peace offering. An offering that wasn't refused. Mexican Militia It was not until 2213 when another major force would come to threaten the Flat Foots, and this came in the form of the Mexican Militia. The Militia's appearance in San An was not a quiet one as they Mexican banditos shot and hollered their way in the city some time before they had any serious conflict with the Flat Foots. When the first skirmish occurred between the Flat Foots and the militia, it was over who had ambushed a caravan that was destined to trade with the Flat Foots. The militiamen claimed that the caravaneer hadn't paid his toll and had reaped his own consequences. The Flat Foots saw it as an arbitrary killing by the brutish gang of a friend of the tribe, in the end, the argument spiraled into violence as one of the banditos pulled a revolver and shooting commenced, ending with several braves and banditos lying dead in the street. This seemingly minor skirmish is what set off the conflict between the tribe and the militia that would last until the militia's collapse after the Battle of the Tower of the Americas. The fighting was really nothing compared to the Flat Foots' last major war as patrols from the militia clashed with Flat Foot braves, the result was a series of inconsequential skirmishes between the two groups that left dozens of people dead on either side. To add, the war was very limited in its size and spread. The militia was more concentrated on controlling San An then fighting a tribe of "primitives", and when the two sides clashed it usually was centered along a single area, right between the two faction's territory with neither side venturing too deep into the others turf. However as the war dragged on and the casualties began to mount the aging and timid Flat Foot Comyison'r Nathan Marshall began to look into ways the war could be fought but with less of a cost on the tribe's end, the answer was simple: explosives. Nathan met with one of the tribe's closest allies, a merchant named Ned. Ned was an arms trader working for the Red River Mercantile Commission and had been supplying the tribe and the various other groups in the San An area with arms for quite some time, one of his best clients being the Mexican Militia. However the militia had just dropped him as their main armaments supplier in favor of the cheaper Hector's Bulk Goods Company, angered by this Ned supplied the Flat Foots with a large supply of military grade land mines for an obscenely low price of several million caps. Seeing as the tribe didn't possess that kind of money he put it on their tab and dropped a couple thousand for being allowed all the "personal time" with the tribe's priestess he could want. With their newly supplied explosives, the Flat Foots lined the area between themselves and the militia with mines, traps, and other hazards and sat back to watch the fireworks. And fireworks there were, the casualty totals for the Flat Foots dropped drastically while the Mexican Militia continued to lose just as many as they had in the past. Now all the Flat Foots had to do was watch their perimeter and keep an eye on the idiotic banditos that wandered into their minefield, only leaving the cover of their positions to replace the explosives and to clean out groups of bandits that had taken refuge in bomb buildings. This process continued for several months before the Mexicans finally stopped coming and the two groups get a distance from one another for the remainder of the Mexican Militia's existence. Present Presently the Flat Foots are led by Comyison'r Manuel Hernandez, and exist in relative peace in their corner of San An, although the Lone Star Army tends to keep their distance from the untamed tribals. However, the Flat Foots aren't hostile towards outsiders as they welcome merchants and other wastelanders into their land and on occasion their tribe. They trade with the Red River Mercantile Commission and Hector's Bulk Goods along with the Royal Caribbean Trading Company along with patrolling the roads around their territory, keeping them clear of bandits and raiders. However, the Flat Foots' relationship with the various smaller factions of San An have been a bit more rocky, they often are the victim of raids by Press Gangs and Santa Rosa Slavers and thus the Flat Foots will often kill anyone with the mark of a slaver they come across, viciously hunting them throughout their territory. Caesar's Legion is another story, the Legion's representative and local commander Titus Serverus has been gracious to the tribe, supporting them in conflicts, praising their warrior's skill in battle and trading with them and in exchange Titus only asks that they pledge their allegiance to a man named Caesar. To the rank and file of the tribe this doesn't seem like an issue but to the chieftains, this request is a bit concerning. Government The government of the Flat Foots is a simplistic one, with the power of the tribe in the hands of the Comyison'r and a small council of chieftains. The Chieftains act as advisors to the Comyison'r keeping him updated on important issues to the tribe like crop yields, the status of the tribe's Brahmin herd and Commerce alongside the information collected by scouts in the area surrounding the tribe's homeland. Using this information the Comyison'r makes decisions that will decide the actions of the tribe. The Comyison'r and his chieftains themselves are selected by the tribesmen for their shrewd decision-making skills, analytical abilities and overall leadership skills. Religious or faith issues within the tribe are handled by the tribe's Preist and Priestess. They help council the tribe's sick and wounded, along with those who are troubled using their form of Christianity as a basis for advice. As for the tribe's "military" the warriors who defend and protect the tribe are selected for their physical condition, abilities with weapons, tracking abilities and a host of other skills. When a boy is seventeen he is taken to the tribe's Soorgent, the man in charge of training all new warriors and is put through a series of rigorous physical tests designed to test the boy's physical strength and abilities, to his abilities with a weapon with tests being broken down into firearms and string based weapons (Bows, Crossbows). After going through these tests, he then goes on to be tested in his skills with a blade, club and spear. Followed by his final task, the boy is taken by several of the braves and severely beaten until he is unconscious and then taken off into to the wastes and told to make his back to the tribe only having his knife to braves the horrors of the waste. If the boy survives, he is made a warrior, a very prestigious position within the tribe. Naturally due to the rigors of these tests very few new warriors are inducted into the tribe's fighting force, but those who are have proven that they are capable of defending their kin. Economy The tribe's biggest economic asset is its Brahmin herds, these cattle are often slaughtered for consumption by the tribals but also for their pelts and meat which are often traded to merchants who pass through the tribe's land, with the pelts being tanned into leather. Outside of their cattle the Flat Foots grow crops, much of what they grow is maize, pinto beans, peppers, etc. but almost every farmer reserves a bit of space on their land for growing a cash crop like tobacco, sugar or cotton for the purposes of trading and sale. To this end the tribe does make a great deal of money off cotton sales, being the largest domestic supplier of cotton in the San An area, this status usually has the city's major trading organizations prying for special trade rights with the tribe. Culture The culture of the Flat Foots is a mix of police values and Christian beliefs. In the pre-war days the Flat Foots were all cops within the Texan law system, and although they no longer serve the state of Texas, they maintain the values their predecessors held. The Flat Foots firmly believe in their role as being the "police" of their section of San An keeping the roads clear of bandits, raiders and making sure that the city's roving bands of slavers are kept far away from the tribe and those traveling in their territory. Beyond this they uphold a sense of integrity and honor, always going to help those in need, whether it be a pinned down caravan, besieged town, or some poor bastard with a slave collar around his throat. In terms of religion, the Flat Foots believe in a sort of bastardized form of Christianity. To be clear, they are polytheists viewing God or "Jehovah" as they call him as their all-powerful God and Jesus as his son, who died for our sins. Where they diverge though is with the disciples who they believe are sort of Demi-Gods that live under God, each performing a role in influencing the day to day lives of humans. Thus each person depending on his role, will make a special prayer to the disciple that will influence their actions. Warriors pray to Peter, merchants to Paul and so on. In terms of Spartan traditions, one sticks out. Veteran warriors, usually after having served upwards of ten years and having proven him/herself in combat will be able to go on a ceremonial hunt. The hunt consists of the warrior going off into the wastes on their own and hunting a Deathclaw, tracking the beast and slaying it. This act is supposed to show the mark of a true warrior and demonstrates his prowess in the field. The warrior will then take the Deathclaw as a trophy decorating his weapon and armor with the bones of the deathclaw. It is also not uncommon for the victorious warrior to adorn parts of his armor with bits of the Deathclaw's armored skin, which they have formed into armor plating, the final part of the ceremony is to have the image of a Deathclaw stenciled onto the breastplate of the warrior's armor. Quotes About Category:Texas Category:Tribals Category:Groups